Phils sign Frandsen to one-year deal

No team in baseball last season got an offensive output as paltry from their third basemen as the Phillies got.

Kevin Frandsen was the best of the worst.

That performance by the 30-year-old infielder in the second half of the season got him a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Phils for 2013, avoiding arbitration.

The Phillies called up Frandsen in late July and immediately gave him a chance to play regularly at third. He responded by hitting .338 with a .383 on-base percentage in 55 games, including 49 starts at third base. The high average didn’t come with a lot of run production (24 runs, 14 RBIs), but the emergence of Carlos Ruiz’s bat in 2012, the return of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and the impending outfielder or two the Phillies expect to add this offseason could make Frandsen and Freddy Galvis an adequate combination hitting in the No. 8 hole for 2013.

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Even if another third baseman is acquired, Frandsen is capable of playing all infield positions and left field in a pinch. He’s a .267 lifetime hitter in the majors, spanning parts of six seasons. He started the 2012 season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley and hit .302 with 34 doubles.

Reliever Antonio Bastardo and outfielder Nate Schierholtz are the only remaining arbitration-eligible players for the Phils.